As consumers become more health conscious, they are demanding frozen desserts that are low in fat, yet great tasting. Historically, however, these two qualities have not gone together. The low-fat products have had a poor taste perception, while improved taste has come at the expense of increased fat. This is partly so because the fat stabilizes the flavor by reducing interaction with other components in the dessert. Additionally, the flavor dissolves the fat which coats the palate and throat in the form of water-immiscible fat droplets, prolonging the taste sensation.
One example of poor taste perception in a low-fat product is vanilla ice cream. Vanilla flavor rapidly disappears during storage of low-fat ice cream. This decrease in flavor intensity becomes noticeable to a trained panelist after just 24 hours of storage. Based on the literature, the mechanism for this flavor loss presumably involves high affinity binding of vanillin to starch and proteins, which requires prior partitioning of the vanillin into the aqueous phase. This hypothesis is consistent with the observation that decreasing the fat content of the ice cream greatly exacerbates the problem. As the fat content is reduced, more vanillin will move into the aqueous phase and bind with starch, ultimately decreasing flavor intensity.
Reduction in fat content not only decreases the available shelf-life of vanillin-containing ice cream, but it also affects flavor performance. Vanilla extract dissolved in an aqueous base gives a sudden burst of an unbalanced flavor perception with distinct off-notes that are absent in a fat base. Secondly, there is no lingering of the flavor in the mouth, since all of the vanillin is immediately dissolved in the saliva and swallowed as opposed to being coated to the palate.
Some producers have attempted to improve taste by using less reactive flavors. For example, ethylvanillin exhibits much lower affinity for starch and therefore has been used in Europe as a more stable artificial vanilla substitute in ice cream. However, use of ethylvanillin has several drawbacks. In comparison to vanillin, ethylvanillin is less balanced and not as full flavored. Furthermore, ethylvanillin may not be labelled as "natural" or "extract".
Therefore, further improvements are needed. It would be advantageous to have encapsulated flavor particles that protect the flavor in the product and then release the flavor upon consumption in the mouth. It would also be advantageous to have these particles liquify in the mouth and provide a balanced and lingering taste sensation. Furthermore, it would be desirable to have methods for preparing these particles.